Stoking the Flames
by DarkusDragon
Summary: Tinder has been resigned to a life of misery for years now, it's not like he's had any other reason to believe otherwise. A chance encounter with another dragon in the woods may be just what he needed.


Tinder was in a bad mood.

This was nothing new, of course. Tinder was rarely ever in a good mood. There was always something wrong, something bothering him, and when there wasn't he'd take a look around the scavenger den he was probably destined to spend the rest of his days in and that would be enough to make him angry again.

He didn't care about these scavengers that he had to protect – their annoying high-pitched voices all sounded the same, and they were always crowded around him. You'd think that after living there for longer than most of them they'd be used to him, but no! They still crowded around him as if he didn't mind being gawked at, or talked to him as if he were some dumb livestock.

He would have turned on them long ago if it weren't for that stupid enchantment. He would have done a lot of things if it weren't for that stupid enchantment. He would have had a proper life if it weren't for that stupid enchantment.

It felt like the ones involved with the enchantment were the ones who he always hated the most. His feelings towards Pine went without saying – animus powers or no, his brother would have to be suicidal to show his face again. The scavenger he was bound to, on the other talon… they would have been eaten long ago if it was possible.

It may not have been the worst case scenario, Tinder thought, if he had ended up under the orders of someone tolerable, but no! Even when it had just been the two of them, they had been insufferable. One would expect some sort of gratitude for having to put up with someone for that long, but the closest thing to that Tinder had ever received had been a pat on the head. He wasn't even allowed inside the den his 'master' lived in – something about not being trusted to steal whatever the item keeping him in this mess actually was (which he absolutely would have, but still!).

Tinder had never asked for this, and he certainly didn't think that he deserved it. All he had wanted was to be treated the same as his brother, for everyone to see that he shouldn't be overlooked just because he didn't have any stupid magic powers. Instead, he ended up stuck here, and he would probably drop dead from embarrassment on the spot if anyone found out about the situation he was stuck in.

Tinder's tail lashed behind him as he walked. He wasn't paying attention to where it was going, but he wouldn't lose any sleep over something getting knocked over because of it. It only stopped its movement when he reached the forest that bordered the settlement, though it still rustled leaves as he moved through the undergrowth.

Tinder stopped moving a few minutes later, when he arrived in a small clearing. The trees were too close together for flying to really be convenient, but at least he had a view of the sky uninterrupted by the noise of a scavenger wanting him to perform some menial task for them. This area had earned itself the title of 'the one place here that I probably wouldn't raze without hesitation if given the chance'.

Tinder laid his head on his front talons as he settled down. This was always a good place to relax. If he tried hard enough, he could always imagine that he was somewhere else and-

Tinder's ears pricked up. There was something else there.

Judging by the racket it was making, that something was either very big or moving in a hurry. If he was lucky, maybe it would be his next meal. Tinder drew himself to his feet and started to follow.

It really wasn't hard to follow the noise – whatever it was, it certainly wasn't a master of stealth. It only took a few seconds for Tinder to realise that they were heading in the direction of the scavenger settlement, but he wasn't bothered. Any prey animals that he knew of were about as fond of scavengers as he was, so it would probably change direction before they actually got there.

Tinder wasn't expecting whatever he was chasing to continue in that direction. He wasn't expecting it to slow to a halt just before reaching the settlement. He certainly wasn't expecting it to turn out to be another dragon.

The newcomer was watching the settlement intently, not noticing Tinder, and as he drew closer, he was able to make out more features - golden scales, a short frill, and a long tail curled behind them.

Normally, Tinder would have just avoided them, he would rather be caught dead than have to explain why he was there. But with the way they were staring at the scavengers… Well, he'd have to protect them if the other dragon decided to attack, and he liked not being turned into a dumb zombie by the enchantment. If he lost, he'd either end up dead or have to explain himself anyway. Talking was probably the lesser of two evils.

"Hey, you." The newcomer jumped slightly, before turning to face him. Good to know that he was still somewhat intimidating. "I don't normally see a lot of other dragons around here, and I doubt it's because of the lovely scenery. Why are you here?"

The other dragon shrugged. "What, I'm not allowed to come here on a walk?"

Oh, so he was talking to a girl. Good to know.

"Unless there's a village nearby that I somehow managed to miss, that's an awfully far way to walk." A few days, at least, if Tinder remembered right. Still, a lot of time had passed since his self-imposed exile.

His conversation partner gave another shrug. "Okay, so I'm looking for someone. What of it?"

"Well, if I got a description, maybe I could tell you if I've seen them." He hadn't. This was the first dragon he'd talked to in ages. He wanted to stretch this out for as long as possible.

"Um…" she gave a sheepish smile. "The problem is… I don't exactly know what they look like?"

"Yes, that generally does tend to make looking for someone difficult."

"Well, hey, it's not like I have nothing to go on! Just very little…" The last sentence was added under her breath, but not quietly enough to not be heard.

Tinder rolled his eyes. "Okay, so, this mystery dragon of yours. Why do you think they're around here?"

"Well, I talked to his brother, and apparently the last time he was seen was around this area…"

Now Tinder's interest was piqued. He was the only dragon he knew of for ages around, so… oh, three moons.

"Wait, do you remember either of their names?"

"Um, yeah! The brother's pretty famous, you know! Pine of the SkyWings!"

Tinder snorted. "Didn't know dragons started listening to that rat with wings."

"Pardon-"

"Yeah, I think you've found your mystery dragon. Tinder of the SkyWings, unfortunate relative of that whiny wizard, at your service."

"Oh."

"Well, you've found me. What did you want to do after that?"

The other dragon looked at her talons. "Um, I don't really know? I had this whole speech planned out, but I didn't actually think I'd get this far, so…" she trailed off awkwardly.

Tinder groaned. "Look, I don't have all day, just say something."

"Well, I guess… Why'd you leave?" Tinder shouldn't have been so surprised by that question, and the other dragon clearly didn't think that he was, because she kept talking. "I mean, nobody's seen you in ages, and it's not like you got exiled or anything."

"Look… what's your name?"

"Aestival."

"Look, Aestival, I get that it's confusing to anyone who doesn't know, but trust me, if I could leave, I would have done so ages ago."

"Well, what's stopping you?"

Tinder pointed his tail towards the settlement. "My dearest brother enchanted something so that I have to obey whoever has it. In a moment of pure genius, he then gave it to one of the scavengers over there." He heard Aestival sucking air through her teeth. "Exactly. So until they hop the twig, I'm stuck here as their pet."

"Is there anything I can do?"

"You can stop acting like Pine's some sort of saint. But if you mean about the enchantment… Well, I have to protect the vermin living here, so not really."

"But it's not like you have to stay here, right? Couldn't you have found someone else to ask for help? It's not like Pine's the only animus dragon out there-" Aestival's sentence was cut short by a bitter laugh from Tinder.

"Ah, yes, what a brilliant idea. Just announce how I'm pretty much a livestock animal until someone capable of doing something about it takes pity. Truly, you are a genius!"

Aestival looked taken aback by this. "Wait, is that seriously your main reason? You're scared your ego will get hurt? You can't just let that happen to you because of your stupid pride!"

Tinder snarled. "Yeah, well forgive me for thinking you're not exactly doing this out of the kindness of your heart!" He raised his voice in an imitation of Aestival's. "'Oh, I know! I'll just go find this dragon who's been missing for ages and who nobody cared about when he was there! I'll look so great!'" He was getting upset now, even more than he normally did. "Do you think that I'd still be here if anyone actually cared about where I was? Of course not! Hey, one less mouth to feed, now we can just focus on Pine!" He stopped himself. He'd probably start crying if he went on for any longer.

Aestival remained silent for a few seconds. Then she spoke again, her voice quieter than before. "You know, Pine did warn me that you had a temper."

"Don't talk about him." Tinder's voice was less hysterical now, but the anger was still there.

"Right. But, you know," Aestival's voice was returning to its usual volume now, "I think I might stay here. For a while at least."

"What?" Tinder was definitely surprised by that statement.

Aestival shrugged. "Well, I've just been wandering around the place for a while now. And three moons, do you need someone to talk to."

Well, it wasn't untrue…

Tinder sighed. "Fine, I guess. But seriously, don't try to hurt the scavengers."

Aestival grinned. "They won't even know I'm here."

* * *

A/N: So… I kinda totally forgot about this account until yesterday? My bad. I apologise to the senders of months-old PMs that I never saw and people waiting for updates on that one Digimon story. I'm going to try and write a multi-chapter fic that I can continue to write for a while, but for now have this oneshot that I wrote a little while back. Any sort of story ideas and constructive criticism are greatly appreciated!


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